Scientists from the University of York found that puzzle and strategy games improve memory and concentration. The results of the study were as follows: published In Heliyon.
482 subjects participated in the study. Among them there were both elderly (60-81 years old) and young people (18-30 years old). Participants reported how many hours per week they played games and what year they started playing. Volunteers also listed what games they played in the week before participating in the experiment.
The games most frequently mentioned are puzzle games (involve solving logical and conceptual problems), strategy games (involve planning a series of actions to achieve a goal effectively), and action games (rely on reaction time and good coordination).
The scientists asked participants to complete a working memory task. With the help of this type of memory, a person can keep the information he is working on in his mind. Subjects had to remember the location of the red circles on the monitor and then reconstruct their location on a blank grid. To create a distracting effect, the researchers used two yellow circles along with red circles.
The results showed that young fans who loved strategy and action games had greater working memory capacity and were more resilient to distractions than their peers. The memory and concentration of the elderly who played puzzles regularly were also good.
The researchers also noted that older puzzle players potentially have the same working memory capacity as non-gaming young adults.
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